This invention relates generally to parabolic trough solar energy collectors.
Solar energy collectors have long been known. They generally comprise concentrating and non-concentrating collectors. The former class includes flat plate collectors which operate at relatively low temperatures and do not concentrate the solar energy. The latter class includes various types of collectors which concentrate or focus solar energy onto a given area or line and are capable of operating at higher temperature. The latter type has included parabolic trough collectors of various configurations.
A drawback with the prior collectors is that they are not cost effective. The cost of the installation and of the reflector exceeds the savings realized by the utilization of solar energy as compared to the use of conventional fuel such as gas, oil or electricity. Furthermore, such reflectors have not been suitable for extended usage under the environmental conditions to which they are subjected for year-round operation. Furthermore, prior devices have been cumbersome to transport and expensive and difficult to erect at the site.